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From Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, July 2009

More Neil Delamere videos

Neil Delamere: Divilment
Live Review

Divilment, as the internet told me, is an Irish term for general mischievousness or shenanigans, and Neil Delamere sets his show loosely around this arguing that in the end, all we have left to enjoy is having cheeky fun.

Delamere manages to capture the essence of his Irishness without feeling cliched or that he was re-treading over exhausted subjects – even on the topic of Ryanair he had something different to say, while the show also covered laziness, practical jokes, cheeky drunks and getting himself out of trouble. His gags aren't revolutionary but they still often invoke belly laughs thanks to his adept storytelling skills.

These sets were interspersed with strong audience interaction, tonight exclusively British and Irish  – but as Neil points out, we are all friends now after the Queen's visit to Ireland, which subtly leads to a smart gag about the black balloons released in protest.

An endearing and friendly performer, Delamere 's charm helps him get away with some seemingly rude – or if you will, cheeky – interactions with the audience but his manner never comes across as offensive. His reasserting a question four times in increasingly exasperated and profanity-laden ways just generated giggles from the audience rather than hostility. A personal favourite was a brief slip into auto-pilot and asking a 16-year-old ‘And what do you do?’ before proceeding to ridicule himself for such a bad question.

It's a combination of his likeable nature, engaging storytelling and relaxing accent that could easily have him described as an Irish John Bishop. You find yourself quite taken by him, exemplified by a woman helpfully heckling other reasons why four people left at a peculiar point near the end, so as to prevent Neil getting bothered by it. So in the end maybe all we do have left is divilment, and Neil Delamere is certainly a personification of that.

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Saw him last night in Tralee and I have to say it was hilarious. His new show Restruction is a lot funnier than his older stuff

Gary n, December 2011

Saw him last night at The Stand, Edinburgh Fringe. Fantastic

Anne Scott, August 2011

Saw him twice live and the panel is my favourite show on TV. Legend

Paul, June 2009

I've only watched him on internet, would love to see him live.

julie hart, September 2008

I absolutely love this man! Saw him in Ballymena and really have not ever laughed as much ever.

Emma McCrea, March 2008

Brilliant comic. Saw him in Vicar St in March and at the Electric Picnic in Sept (was just a shame that the material was the same both times...)

Jayjay, November 2007

Neil Delamere is my favourite Irish comic. I adore his humour! He everybody's friend. Apart from the gardai. I can see him doing well, it's like he's in a class of his own

Emily L, February 2007

Neil is one of the best live performers in ireland. He loves to interact with his audience as if they were the regulars in his local pub

Barry, December 2006

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